I grew up in the western burbs and finally escaped after learning to windsurf and moved to Rio Vista California. Always hating cold water weather even California got cold to me in the winter. So with the rest of the pack, mexico is where we hang in the winter. I was fortunate and bought beachfront 12 years ago before prices got real out of hand. while my kiting and windsurfing friends from out west come down and visit me a lot, only one of my windsurfing friends from Evanston have made the venture.

Anyway a friend of mine who is Mexican has asked me to tell people about his resort that is about 5 properties from mine. We are in the prime kiting and nice area(golden mile) of LaVentana. So if you are looking for a good place to kite this winter give him a shot. If you are on a real tight budget, well bring a tent and pitch it on my property. I have many bathrooms with hot showers and two outdoor kitchens so I have the space. The wind season is october 15 sometimes earlier to May. If you plan properly and say aim for thanksgiving if you fly a few days before and leave a few days after the weekend flights are reasonable to Cabo. you take a bus from there and get picked up in a nearby town. I think my father was getting very good deals with america west routed through Phoenix.

My Mexican friend website is http://www.kiteparadise.biz. if you book in the next couple weeks for thanksgiving he will give you the discount of 20% off and same with kiteweek down here which is end of Januaryish.

And for those who do not know there is a very large low cost campground here in LaVentana. It is in the "golden mile" of prime kiting area. the cost of camping there which has nice bathrooms with showers(no hot water) is beachfront about USD$10.00 for a site. And if not beachfront about $6.00. you can imagine many are there for 5-6 months.

The first camper for the winter season just showed up a month ago. Also for those who are really poor and can go without showers there is a arroyo area to the north of that not large but many camp there for the entire season for free. there are several fruit and vegi trucks that come through and stop at the campground 2 or so times a week as well as mini store and several restaurants within 2-10 minute walks.

Food is very low cost at restaurants, a 7 dollar meal is very common. Cervasa is about USD$1.50. Fresh fish caught that day is 3 minute walk for about $6-8 a kilo. Or 30 minute walk to buy from the 22 yo cutie... that includes mahi mahi and yellow fin tuna steaks. Shrimp is not cheap at about $10.00 a kilo. catch your own octopus right in front, if you can see them. Saw one yesterday, they just blend in so well.

For those looking for property, non beachfront is very low cost and building is about $100.00 a square foot on up. lots 1000 sq meters can be found as low as 20k. there are less expensive without titles. some titles come in about 10 years later.

we have a kite competition/charity event end of January where you can demo many kites.

here is a bit more...LaVentana Mexico.... the incredible baja.. yes you can drink the water and also this is a very safe area of Mexico the 1000 mile drive makes it so. Kind of hard to commit a big crime and drive away 1000 miles. In fact LaPaz for our big city is rated in the top safest cities in north america.

OK even safer is LaVentana a town of 600 that grows to 2,000 in the winter as the Canadians and Americans and a few Germans arrive. We are 30 Miles south of LaPaz population about 300k. This place was discovered by windsurfers about 25 years ago. It is now considered one of the best places to get a kite fix in the winter in North America. For various reasons, temp, winter is about 72-78 F day with 3 days of rain a year, so 362 days of sun. Next consistent wind, we rarely have gusty conditions, wind is side shore, wind blows to the bottom of the bay so if you have equipment failure you do not end up in Panama. We have wave spots for advanced people and it is a great place for beginners because of the catch all end of the bay. Water temp to me is cold, 70 degrees so I wear a shorty. Some kite in shorts with rash shirt. For beginners and intermediate or those who hate cold I recommend a full 3/2. Some years we have 30 days straight on the water. The season is November to May. There are two airports (LAP) LaPaz and Cabo (CSL), Cabo is the one with many airlines and many flights. There are buses from cabo and private vans that bring many here. There is gear rental in the area. and as I mentioned a very low cost campground and a free one. you would drive to Nagales and drive south on the mainland another 500 miles and take the ferry to LaPaz overnight.

here are a few more pictures of his resort rooms are starting at $100.00 a night. http://www.kiteparadise.biz also here are some pictures of the food served at that resort. The chef does a 4 course meal for about $12.00 to $14.00 as a side note, if you like fresh fish a tuna caught that day the filet sells at the local fish store for $3.00 a lb. I did not make a mistake, that is caught that day tuna at three dollars US a lb. same with mahi mahi. bring your own wasbi...